lorgnette

Borrowed from French lorgnette, from lorgner (“to take a sidelong look at”) (from Middle French lorgne (“crosseyed”)).

• IPA^(key): /lɒɹnjɛt/
• Rhymes: -ɛt

lorgnette (plural lorgnettes)

1. An opera glass with a handle.

   Synonym: (archaic) lorgnon

   • 1869, Mark Twain, chapter XXXII, in The Innocents Abroad, page 340:

     In the valley, near the Acropolis, […] Athens itself could be vaguely made out with an ordinary lorgnette.

2. Elaborate double eyeglasses.

• lorgnette on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

From lorgner (“to take a sidelong look at”) +‎ -ette, analogous to lunette.

• IPA^(key): /lɔʁ.ɲɛt/

lorgnette f (plural lorgnettes)

1. lorgnette
   • 1924, Emmanuel Bove, Mes Amis‎^[1]:

     Au théâtre, nous occuperions une loge. En me penchant, je pourrais toucher le rideau. De toute la salle, on nous observerait, avec des lorgnettes.

     At the theatre, we would have a box. If I leant over, I would be able to touch the curtain. The whole auditorium would watch us through lorgnettes.

• regarder par le petit bout de la lorgnette

• “lorgnette”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.